1963 Kingsmen hit with a repetitive title / MON 8-17-26 / "Pink" animal of film / Boozy brunch drink / Well-dressed guy / ___ tofu (Sichuan dish) / Hot pepper named for Cuba's capital / It catches ballpark smooches

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (solved Downs-only) 

THEME: "YES AND YES!" (62A: "Totally agree!" ... or what the circled letters are, in different languages) — each theme answer contains two sets of circled squares, each of which contains a word meaning "yes" in a foreign language:

Theme answers:

• DAPPER DAN (16A: Well-dressed guy)
• JAM JARS (38A: Containers for fruit preserves)
• "LOUIE LOUIE" (10D: 1963 Kingsmen hit with a repetitive title)
• SITE VISITS (27D: On-location inspections)

Word of the Day: "LOUIE, LOUIE" (10D) —

"Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written, composed, and recorded by American musician Richard Berry in 1956 and released in 1957. In 1963, a version by the Kingsmen attracted controversy over allegedly profane lyrics. The song is based on the tune "El Loco Cha Cha" popularized by bandleader René Touzet and is an example of Afro-Cuban influence on American popular music. // The song's historical impact and ongoing popularity, attested by books, articles, rankings, and hundreds of cover versions, have earned it a reputation as "a cornerstone of rock". 

"Louie Louie" tells, in simple verse–chorus form, the first-person story of a "lovesick sailor's lament to a bartender about wanting to get back home to his girl". [...] On April 6, 1963, the Kingsmen, a rock and roll group from Portland, Oregon, chose "Louie Louie" for their second recording. The session took place at Northwestern Inc. Motion Pictures & Recording Studios at 411 SW 13th Avenue in Portland. The one hour session, originally intended to produce an audition tape for a summer cruise ship gig, cost either $36, $50, or somewhere in between, and the band split the cost. [...] First released in May 1963, the single was initially issued by the small Jerden label, before being picked up by the larger Wand Records in October 1963. Wand president Florence Greenberg said, "it was forced down my throat by friends. I was ashamed to put it out." Herb Alpert and A&M Records passed on the distribution opportunity, deeming it "too long" and "out of tune". [...]

Sales of the Kingsmen record were initially so low (reportedly 600) that the group considered disbanding. Things changed when Boston's biggest DJ, Arnie Ginsburg, was given the record by a pitchman. Amused by its slapdash sound, he played it on his program as "The Worst Record of the Week". Despite the slam, listener response was swift and positive.Another factor in the success of the record may have been the rumour that the vocals were intentionally slurred by the Kingsmen to cover up lyrics that were allegedly laced with profanity, graphically depicting sex between the sailor and his lady. Crumpled pieces of paper professing to be "the real lyrics" to "Louie Louie" circulated among teens. The song was banned on many radio stations and in many places in the United States, including Indiana, where a ban was requested by Governor Matthew Welsh. These actions were taken despite the fact that practically no one could distinguish the actual lyrics. Denials of chicanery by Kingsmen and Ely did not stop the controversy. The FBI started a 31-month investigation into the matter and concluded they were "unable to interpret any of the wording in the record." However, drummer Lynn Easton later admitted that he yelled "fuck" after fumbling a drum fill at 0:54 on the record. (wikipedia)

• • •

I confess I don't really know this expression, "YES AND YES!" I'm sure I've heard it, and it would be totally recognizable as a kind of emphatic affirmative, but it's not something I hear people say, or can hear in my head very clearly. I frequently use the phrase "Done and done!" to mean roughly the same thing ("I will do that thing," "consider it done," "yes I will do it"), but "YES AND YES!" ... not sure why it's not really ringing a bell. But it's not really a problem for me today—I recognize it as a thing one might say, and it leads to a pretty nifty, simple Monday theme. Kinda cheating to get your two "oui"s by using "LOUIE" twice, but then again, I enjoy remembering that song, which is one of the day's most colorful answers so cheating objection ... overruled! My only real complaint involves SITE VISITS, which is a singularly unattractive phrase. I'm stunned that there wasn't some better, more colorful, less blandly businesslike phrase that has two "SI"s in it. I realize you've got symmetry considerations, and the answer (assuming you keep all the other themers where they are) had to come in at ten letters long, but still ... I think you gotta hunt harder. That answer was also the hardest for me to get, from a Downs-only standpoint, despite my being fairly certain of the "SI"s (it was the only commonly known foreign "yes" that was left). But again, overall, the puzzle was cute. Entertaining. Interesting to solve Downs-only. Reverse KOA!

Even with the cheater squares (black squares above PIC and below ESO, which are there only to make the grid easier to fill), there's still a bit of dull crosswordese around the edges here. ESO, for instance, and PAOLO OBIES ISEE EIN ANTE IMAM IMAC INUIT UAE OSSO EYRE ASTI ATTN EASEL AHA ... would've been nice if the puzzle hadn't been so reliant on allllllll the old stuff. But then of course the themers are strong, and the longer non-themers are decent as well. HABANERO is spicy and SCREEDS are ranty and MEANDER is wandery and SCORPION is sting-y and KISS CAM, well, those are kinda gross, actually, but who doesn't like the Pink PANTHER? SO THERE! If the crosswordese is bugging you, just have a MIMOSA and listen to your favorite ROCK BAND and relax. Or you could have some MAPO tofu and listen to Chappell ROAN, that's what I'd do if I hadn't already had dinner—a delicious dinner Penelope and I made together. Here, I have the pics to prove it.

[that NYT Cooking page-a-day calendar is a godsend—app, shmapp, just give me paper!]

Bullets:

• 16A: Well-dressed guy (DAPPER DAN) — I know DAPPER DAN exclusively as a doll that I (or my sister, or both of us) had when I was very little. I can still see his dumb felted face and rosy cheeks. Oh yeah, here we go:

[Well-dressed, smash-faced]

The phrase I know for "well-dressed man" is "handsome Dan," though that's probably just because of "Tougher Than the Rest," a Bruce Springsteen song that I first heard in an acoustic version by Everything But The Girl:

["Some girls they want a handsome Dan / Or some good-looking Joe..."]

• 36D: "Sounds like a plan!" ("LET'S") — one of the tougher answers, from a Downs-only perspective. I wanted "I'M IN!"
• 11D: Martini garnish (OLIVE) — ONION also works (and fits, and starts with "O") (though w/ an ONION, it’s called a Gibson Martini, or simply a Gibson)
• 59D: Enjoy a fantasy, say (READ) — I kinda like the mild misdirection here. They hide "novel" or "story" and just let "fantasy" be a substantive adjective. So your (my) first thought for "Enjoy a fantasy" is something like "dream," but ... no.
• 33D: Breakfast beverages, for short (OJS) — kind of an OJ overload situation here, as OJ both sits alongside MIMOSA and is a key ingredient of a MIMOSA (the other being champagne or other sparkling wine). 

That's all for today. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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